- C O R R U P T U S -
by Yusunaby
Summary: Morty would always say that he was the luckiest Morty in the world since he got to watch TV with his favorite Rick. But his voice was loaded with too much sadness. There was nothing other than helplessness and sorrow. AU - ZEROVER - SRFM X ZERO


This is all for FutaGogo here is their page: They have all credits like my betta tester 3

 **...**

 **Corruption**

 **Chapter 1**

"Let's see. Jerry left Beth during her second pregnancy, then Summer left the house to be with her dad, and this Morty was left in the care of his Rick when he was only a few months old. That was before..." He took a closer look at the screen, "Oh, God. Before Beth died while drunk driving."

Storage Rick brought his electronic cigarette to his mouth and inhaled, holding the smoke in until he could exhale naturally. He turned to the screen and began typing in a couple more symbols. The Guard just rolled his eyes in annoyance. The day was short, work was long, and the dimensional timelines were endless. So what if a Morty had a tough life? He was just one of hundreds.

"Then apparently the Rick of his dimension was intercepted by the galactic police, and they threw this Morty into a dimension inhabited by giant killer bees. He stayed there for six months before the honey collecting brigade found him. He arrived here wounded, hungry, and with no concept of what day it was. All right. I'll need a little more information in order to register him in the day care and put him up for adoption."

"He's a mangy, little Morty, and I don't have fucking time for this, you glorified babysitter. I have real work to do. Either I leave him here in this shithole, or I'm selling him to the highest-paying alien collector, capiche?"

The Guard Rick left Storage Rick's office to go to the ship where the victim was temporarily being held. Upon his return, he found that the door to the Morty pen was already open and Storage Rick was waiting patiently at the door with a blanket and a bar of chocolate. The Guard gave a derisive snort and practically threw him the boy. He would have hit the ground had it not been for Storage.

"Have fun with this stupid thing."

Storage Rick stared daggers into the back of the Guard's head as he departed to his ship, but of course it was completely ignored. Now they were the only two in all the day care.

The new Morty and him.

"Are you okay?" Storage asked, placing the blanket over his shoulders and offering him the chocolate bar. He regarded the child for a few moments and came to the conclusion that beneath all the filth and dirty, he looked like any other Morty. He wouldn't have been able to tell that his life had been destroyed or that he'd been lost for months in a world inhabited by giant bees.

"Wow! Th-thanks, Rick. And I'm fine. It's been a long time since anyone's asked me that." The little boy giggled nervously and nibbled at the chocolate to avoid having to look him in the face.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, Rick. You're being so nice to me." The older man just stared at him as he watched Morty blush deeply. "I mean, all Ricks are nice. They're amazing! But you've been the most thoughtful. Oh, geez. I-I think I'm beginning to feel really strongly about you… C-can I hug you?"

Storage was stunned. It wasn't easy taking care of the Mortys, especially ones that had been through such bizarre episodes outside their original timelines. It took a long time for them to build up self-confidence and an eternity for them to be able to trust a Rick again. Having just read his shocking life story, he'd be willing to bet that the kid suffered from some major PTSD.

This was the first time he'd been requested something like this by a Morty, and maybe it was out of pity that he gave in and hugged him, albeit apathetically. He could feel the shyness radiating off of the child.

"Rick, I think everything's going to be all right now."

"Oh, it will be. As long as you're here."

…

The weeks that followed were truly challenging, especially for Storage Rick. He was tasked with having to protect the newest Morty addition whom he called Super Rick Fan Morty. It was tiresome, discovering the fanaticism the boy held toward his grandfather. His original Rick must have been an egomaniac — a Super Fan Rick, if there ever was one — to have raised the boy to turn out like this.

The fact of the matter was that most Mortys out there, unless they'd been tagged with a Morty Manipulator Chip, hated Ricks. The other Mortys beat on the new kid for sticking up for them. He was ostracized and forced to live with the other reject Mortys, including Cup Morty, Pizza Morty, and Reverse Mermaid Morty. It could've been worse, but it did hurt being snubbed like that.

Then there was matter of trying to stay away from from the Guards and Ricks that were "interested" in adopting him. For some reason, the rumor that a Rick-aficionado Morty could be found in the dare care gave everyone the impression that they could just _hang out_ with him and then _leave_ _him_ _there_ again. Fortunately, and thanks in part to the Mortys (now jealous that the Ricks were paying attention to the new kid and not them,) he was able to avoid any major calamities.

It was stressful for Storage Rick to come anywhere near the kid, because whenever he did he was subjected to his compliments and caresses. At first it was all fine and well, but the Morty's passion crossed the line into downright annoyance. He was so high-energy and forward that the only way out was to avoid him. That was when Storage Rick realized he was doing the same to him as everyone else was: ostracizing him.

The day care was no place for a Morty as kindhearted as him. He deserved the love of a Rick who would take good care of him, someone who had the energy to match his. When it came down to it, he wasn't getting the attention he needed. Storage Rick's obvious duty should have been finding him an adoptive grandfather. But who would give him the respect he was due?

What Rick could possibly love a Morty who loved Ricks?

…

Luckily, fate stepped in. The manager of the day care couldn't explain it. The past few weeks had seen an influx of Ricks interested in adoption, yet the number of new Mortys to offer was incredibly low. Someone somewhere in the multiverse got the idea that if they got a myriad of Mortys to fight each other, he'd have a real hit on his hands.

And he did.

Every Rick without a partner was now eager to have one or more Mortys. All the remaining Mortys who were abandoned across the universe were collected and given new homes. (Later on, they'd be made to fight others of themselves and be displayed like prizes.) Everything was going well — too well, in fact — except for the fact that SRF Morty was still left stranded on his own.

This new device that some Rick had created for reading the stats of each Mortys also told their background stories. If they'd had a violent childhood and telekinetic powers: perfect; If Beth had sent them to karate classes: even better! But if their parents had split up and they'd been left with a lonely, drunk and, selfish Rick…it left a lot to be desired, especially considering that it almost always guaranteed a mountain of emotional baggage which Ricks just didn't want to deal with.

Business hours were over, and Storage Rick was watching TV with his own Rabbit Morty, asleep in a box on the floor, and SRF Morty lying across his lap.

SRF Morty would always say that he was the luckiest Morty in the world since he got to watch TV with his favorite Rick. But his voice was loaded with too much sadness. There was nothing other than helplessness and sorrow.

…

The weeks passed quietly. Those greedy Ricks who Chipped more Mortys than they could properly look after were allowed to leave some in the day care. This helped alleviate the lonely atmosphere to which they had grown used to. But though the Chipped Mortys were more docile and much easier to command, they lacked in personality for the most part. It made for dreary company.

SRF Morty had become Storage Rick's personal assistant, and he helped him to settle the Mortys into their "kennels" upon arrival. Sometimes he ran the front desk, thrilled at getting to see all the different Ricks that came to the day care. And sometimes he was tasked with simply sweeping the yard.

It was on one of those days when they had a lot of work. Apparently the Morty Games had gotten out of hand, and now many Ricks were capturing Mortys not to make them fight, but simply to add to their collections. There was no more space in the kennels, since they had to be locked up in cells, and there were dozens of Ricks waiting to visit their Mortys. However, it was a huge job in and of itself just telling them apart.

It was the end of the day, and Storage and SRF were locking up the reception area. Storage looked like he could murder someone, and the boy could only barely get a half smile out of the Rick. This was a bad sign, considering he was always running around trying to make him laugh.

"Good work today, Morty. I'm going upstairs with my Rabbit. Do you think you can mop up in here?"

Indeed, Storage Rick's Rabbit Morty never lifted a finger in the day care. He always was the favorite, the prince of the Mortys, while SRF Morty was given the role of Cinderella.

"Of course, Rick." Even though he was exhausted, he could never say no to his favorite Rick. After all, he was probably even more exhausted than him. "D-don't worry about it. Tomorrow it'll be super clean just the way you like it."

"See you tomorrow, then." He took out a cigarette to unwind and turned in for the night.

Morty put on an apron to keep from soiling his favorite blue shirt and set to work doing his job. When he'd finished, he was about to put the mop away and go to his own cell with the others, when he heard a noise that made him pause. It was the entrance door bell.

He thought they'd already locked it.

"H-hello?" He called from the back room, his strength returning to him at the mere thought that maybe it would be a kindly trainer Rick confused about the visiting hours.

There was no answer, but he heard heavy steps, so he went to the front, untying his apron as he did so.

"We're closed for the day. But visiting hours are in the morning, so..."

His eyes must've been playing tricks on him. He'd seen many Ricks, each one better than the last — some robotic, some reptilian — but he had never seen anyone like this. In his eyes, he was an extraordinary specimen: his blue hair covering one eye, the other ringed by dark circles. He wore jet-black clothing, and his posture was the strangest he had ever seen. He looked like he was constantly on the verge of falling over but never quite would.

"I don't… I don't go out during the day. It's not my thing." His soft voice was a raspy whisper that gave Morty chills. "I came by because I saw a light on. But if you guys aren't open, I'll leave."

He turned around, about to leave, when the boy's senseless, desperate shriek stopped him in his tracks.

"Nonono, please! I can help you with whatever you need, so please…stay."

Rick's dark gaze rested for a moment on Morty, his look so intense it could have burned a hole in him. They both turned away for different reasons.

"What kind of Morty are you interested in visiting? I'll need to go to and w-wake him up," Morty offered, now more uncomfortable as he took out his ledger to check. He realized that he had never seen this Rick before, there were no recent Mortys admissions, and he didn't even know the name of this Rick.

And that's something he would have definitely remembered.

"I'm not here to visit anyone. I came to borrow a Morty, I want him to clean my garage. The one I had was stolen by a Rick with a Manipulator Gun. I actually pity the idiot Rick. That Morty was a real pain in the ass."

"Wow. I don't know if we can lend out Mortys. If their Ricks found out, they'd be pretty upset. But I'm sure if you caught a Morty, he'd be happy to help you. I bet it'd be super fun to clean out your garage."

"I don't go out in public much. And cleaning out a garage isn't fun."

"Geez, Rick. I feel awful because although I'd love to help you, all the Mortys we have here are Chipped. They won't listen to anyone besides their Rick."

"I get it. I guess I'll just blow up my garage and build a clean one. Thanks for nothing, kid."

"No, no, no. I'm sorry. I really want to help you, but I don't know what I can do!"

The Rick turned back to the door again, ignoring the boy and gripping the handle as he looked at the floor. Finally, he turned his attention to Morty only to find him sobbing in silence as he clung at his apron — and the last memory he would have of this Rick.

"Did you just clean this place?"

"Yes…" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes from tiredness and the tears.

A silence settled over the room, calming Morty down.

"Why don't you come with me? Now that I think about it, you don't have a Chip…and you know how to mop."

"I-I can't. No Rick has ever loved me before. My favorite Rick tells me not to trust stranger Ricks." Morty looked at him in amazement and mistrust from head to toe. "Besides, it's weird that you came here at night looking to borrow a Morty."

"I don't know what you've heard about Ricks, but it's probably all true. It's not good to trust strangers. Anyway, I gotta go now. That garage isn't going to blow itself up."

"Wait! I want to go with you. No matter where you take me, no matter what you do to me...I just want a Rick who feels that I'm theirs."

The older man only raised his eyebrow in surprise. He thought that perhaps it had been a mistake to ask him. But there would always be a day care to return him to when his patience ran out. He lifted his serious, deadpan face and moved away from the door.

"Let's go, then. People will start filling the streets in a few hours, and I don't want be there when that happens."

Despite all the fatigue of the day and his current sleep-deprived state, SRF's energy returned to 100%. He could barely contain all his enthusiasm as he gave a joyful shriek. All he was able to take was his favorite cap and doll — both in the image of Rick. It was a miracle that the older man waited for him at the door, because he seemed to be in no mood to do so.

And when Super Rick Fan Morty stepped outside the day care after what seemed like an eternity, he knew he was not only free; he actually was tied to freedom.

Tied to that Rick.

Zero Rick.


End file.
